244 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
could do fifty per cent more work in dry grass 
than in wet. 
It saves time to go round a large area in 
mowing rather than a small one and to have 
a space cleared at each end to drive the ma¬ 
chine out upon, and to work the knives free 
of grass. They also are very convenient for 
the purpose of sharpening. 
Let no one become discouraged by the fail¬ 
ures and difficulties of the first day, and con¬ 
clude that a machine is worthless because 
it does not work well at once. After four 
days of hard work, I got to understand it 
well, and worked it very much to my satis¬ 
faction. With two men at the cornets and 
edges, with scythes about half the time in the 
morning, and the machine commencing at 7} 
to 8 o’clock, we got done by 12 as much 
hay as all my force could get up by night, 
working till 7i to 8, and I frequently had 14 
men in the field. I cut for myself 45 acres, 
and 8 for Mr. Noyes. Some of my hay cut 
2* tuns to the acre. The work is hard for 
horses, but as you use them but half a day 
and rest and water them often, they get along 
very well with it. And, take it altogether, I 
think it a very useful and saving machine. 1 
calculate it cleared more than half its cost 
last year. I can well imagine that many 
persons would soon be discouraged in start- 
ingjone of them, but I am very certain if they 
will persevere, and understand how to work 
it, they will never be without it, especially 
when good mowers are so hard to get in 
these days. I have no doubt ere long sonie 
improvement will be made in them, making 
them run with much more ease. I should 
have added above that, I’go into the field with 
three knives all sharp, but two generally does 
the work of the day, changing during the 
forenoon once. If you can make out of this 
hasty description of my experience, an arti¬ 
cle that will enable some one else to use 
them successfully, I shall be very glad, as I 
think they meet the wants of farmers who 
cut much hay. Respectfully yours, 
James J. Ray. 
ST. PETERSBURG BIRD MARKET. 
Perhaps for a stranger, the most interest¬ 
ing portion of this world of markets is that 
of the Tshukin Dvor, where the birds are 
sold. Two long rows of booths are full of 
living specimens of ornithology ; pigeons, 
fowls, geese, ducks, swans, larks, bull-finch¬ 
es, siskins, and hundreds of other singing 
birds, are there collected, and form the most 
picturesque and variegated menageries that 
can be imagined. Each booth is of wood and 
open at the front, so that the whole of its 
contents may be seen atonoe by the passing 
stranger, who is saluted with such a concert 
of cackling, crowing, chattering, cooing, 
piping, and warbling, as Avould suffice to fur¬ 
nish the requisite idyllic supply of melodies 
for a hundred villages. Between the oppo¬ 
site booths are usually such bridges as I have 
already described, from which the pictures 
of saints are suspended, for the edification of 
the devout. On these bridges and on the 
booths whole swarms of pigeons are con¬ 
stantly fluttering about, the peaceful Russian 
being a great lover of this gentle bird. Each 
swarm knows its own roof, and the birds 
allow themselves to be caught without much 
difficulty when a bargain is about to be con¬ 
cluded. The pigeon is never eaten by a 
Russian, who would hold it a sin to harm an 
animal in whose form the Holy Ghost is said 
to have manifested itself. Pigeons are 
bought, therefore, only as pets, to be fed and 
schooled by their masters. It is curious to 
see a Russian merchant directing the flight 
of his docile scholars. With a little flag 
fastened to a long staff he conveys his sig¬ 
nals to them, makes them at his will rise 
higher in the air, fly to the right or left, or 
drop to the ground as if struck by a bullet 
from a rifle. 
The poor little singing birds—the larks, 
nightingales, linnets, bullfinches, &c.—must 
be of a hardier race than in more southern 
lands ; for in spite of the bitter frost they 
chirrup away merrily, and salute with their 
songs every straggling ray of sunshine that 
finds its way into their gloomy abodes. The 
little creatures receive during the whole long 
winter not one drop of water, for it would 
be useless to offer them what a moment af¬ 
terwards would be converted into a petrified 
mass. Their troughs are accordingly filled 
only with snow, which they must liquefy in 
their own beaks when they wish to assuage 
their thirst. 
Moscow is famed for its cocks, and here 
the Moscow cock may be seen proudly stalk¬ 
ing about, in cages and out of them. The 
best pigeons are said to come from Novgo¬ 
rod, and Finland furnishes the chief supply 
of singing birds ; geese are brought even from 
the confines of China, to be sold as rarities 
in the Tshukin Dvor, after a journey of more 
than 4,000 miles ; grey squirrels may be seen 
rolling about in their cages like incarnate 
quicksilver ; while rabbits and guinea-pigs, 
without number, gambol their time away in 
their little wooden hutches. Within the 
booth, a living center of all this living mer¬ 
chandise, behold the merchant, closely en¬ 
sconced in his wolfskin, and ready to dis¬ 
pose of his little feathered serfs at any ac¬ 
ceptable price. At the back of the booth, 
be sure, there hangs a saintly picture of 
some sort, its little lamp shedding a 'cheer¬ 
ful light to guard the feathered crowd 
against the evil influence of intruding de¬ 
mons ; but there are evil spirits that the good 
saint cannot banish. Man is there to hold 
in chains or to sentence to death, according 
as it may suit his calculations of profit, or 
the caprices of his palate. On shelves 
around are ranged the trophies of his mur¬ 
derous tribe, and the northern swans, the 
heathcocks ( reptshiki ), and snow-white part¬ 
ridges ( kurapatki ), are piled up under the 
very cages from which the captive larks 
warble their liquid notes. 
It is astonishing what a quantity of these 
birds are yearly consumed at the luxurious 
tables of St. Petersburgli. In winter the 
cold keeps the meat fresh, and at the same 
time facilitates its conveyance to market. 
The partridges come mostly from Saratoff, 
the swans from Finland, Livonia and Estho- 
nia supply heathcocks and grouse, and the 
wide steppes must furnish the trapp geese 
which flutter over their endless plains, where 
the Cossack hunts them on horseback, and 
kills them with his formidable whip. All 
these birds, as soon as the life-blood has 
flown, are converted into stone by the frost, 
and packed up in huge chests are sent for 
sale to the capital. Whole sledgeloads of 
snow white flares find their way to the mark¬ 
et ; the little animals are usually frozen in a 
running position, with their ears pointed and 
their legs stretched out before and behind, 
and when placed on the ground look at the 
first glance as if they were in the act of es¬ 
caping from the hunter. Bear’s flesh is also 
sometimes offered for sale in this market; 
and here and there may be seen a frozen 
reindeer lying in the snow by the side of a 
booth, its hairy snout stretched forth upon 
the ground, its knees doubled up under its 
body, and its antlers rising majestically into 
the air ; it looks as if, on our approaching it, 
it would spring up, and dash away once more 
in search of its native forests. The mighty 
elk, likewise, is no rare guest in this market, 
where it patiently presents its horns as a 
perch for the pigeons that are fluttering 
about, till, little by little, the ax and the saw 
have left no fragment of the stately animal, 
but every part of it has gone its way into the 
kitchens of the wealthy. 
Similar markets for birds and game will be 
found in every large Russian city. Indeed 
the habits and fashions of the Russian mar¬ 
kets are completely national. Those of 
Moscow vary but little from those of To- 
bolks; and Trkhutsh, Odessa, and Arch¬ 
angel have shown themselves equally servile 
in their imitation of the metropolitan bazaars. 
J. G. Khol's “ Russia." 
CROPS, FRUIT, &C, IN DELEW ARE. 
Mr. Jesse Higgins, writing from McDon 
ough, Del., under date of June 23, says : 
Much is said about the flattering prospect 
of the crops. The wheat in this section is 
backward, and will not be ready to cut be¬ 
fore the first of next month. I have no rea¬ 
son to believe there will be a large crop— 
though the country could present few finer 
fields than we have had here in years past— 
the seed having been put in very late, in con¬ 
sequence of the drouth, and the winter act¬ 
ing on it severely, on account of the little 
snow. It now promises to head well, and 
we may have an average crop, but not more. 
The oat crop will be larger than we have had 
for years. Corn is backward yet, but as we 
have warm weather now, the prospect is 
good. Peaches are rather too plentiful, it 
being necessary to shake many trees to pre¬ 
vent their breaking. 
NARCOTICS. 
The learned Dr. James T. Johnson, whose 
valuable work—“ The Chemistry of Com¬ 
mon Life ”—is receiving great attention in 
England and our own country, has the fol¬ 
lowing interesting statement in regard to the 
narcotics mankind indulge in. It will be in¬ 
ferred that the man of science has but slight 
faith in the virtue of legal enactments. He 
says : 
Siberia has its fungus—Turkey, India, and 
China, their opium—Persia, India, and Tur¬ 
key ; with all Africa from Morocco to the 
Cape of Good Hope, and even the Indians of 
Brazil, have their hemp and haschisch—In¬ 
dia, China, and the Eastern Archipelago their 
betel-nut and betel-pepper—the Polynesian 
islands their daily ava—Peru and Bolivia 
their long-used coca—New Granada and the 
Himalayas their red and common thorn- 
apples—Asia and America, and all the world, 
we may say, their tobacco—the Florida In¬ 
dians ther emetic holly—Northern Europe 
and America their ledums and sweet gale— 
the Englishman and German their hop, and 
the Frenchman his lettuce. No nation so 
ancient but has had its narcotic soother from 
the most distant times—none so remote and 
isolated but has found within its own borders 
a pain allayer and narcotic care-dispeller of 
native growth—none so savage which in¬ 
stinct has not led to seek for, and success¬ 
fully to employ, this form of physiological 
indulgence. The craving for such indulg¬ 
ence, and the habit of gratifying it, are little 
less universal than the desire for, and the 
practice of consuming the necessary mate¬ 
rials of our common food. Thus it may be 
estimated that the several narcotics are used : 
Tobacco.among.300 millions of men. 
Opium. “ .4°° 
Hemp. “ 200 to 300 
Betel. “ . 100 
Cocoa. “ . 10 
Scarcity of Horses in Europe. —A cor¬ 
respondent of the Spirit of the Times, writ¬ 
ing from Paris under date of May 31, re¬ 
marks on the state of the London horse 
market as follows : 
Ladies’ saddle-horses are not to be had 
neither are carriage horses , which will sur 
